Did you ever want to see what a patriarchal double standard looks like in action? Most women understand completely as it onerous crap like this that circumscribes their experiences in society and is a daily reminder of their second class standing (in 20-fracking-18). Conversely, the class of men, who are often the beneficiaries of said double standards often are unaware of systemic voodoo that ‘mysteriously’ makes their lives that much more livable and convenient. The qualifications for entering either class of people – being a privileged male, or an oppressed female is entirely based on the foundational truth of which biological sex class you happen to be born into. It should also be said that this feature (sex) and the associated benefits/disadvantages (sex based privilege/oppression) follow you regardless of how you happen to identify in society.

But enough of that heady class based analysis of the oppressive forces in society, we have to talk about… soccer.

How could soccer (or football for my European readership) provide the genesis for a piece about the patriarchal double standards that permeate our society (ohh, and probably a critique of the violent strain of transactivism that is currently afflicting western soceity as well)? Let’s set the stage, with many thanks to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for the news article:

“An international men’s soccer league has no room for Canada’s top female player. Stephanie Labbé is considered the No. 1 player in the country. She earned 49 caps, awarded for each international game appearance, and helped the Canadian women’s team win Olympic bronze at the 2016 Rio games. To challenge herself, she also tried to win a place on the Calgary Foothills FC men’s soccer team this spring. She earned that spot — but the league refused to let her play due to her gender.”

Firstly, full marks to the CBC for conflating the social construct of gender with a biological fact of sex. Secondly, this story doesn’t get going till we see what transpired.

The pre-professional league runs teams across North America, but in a statement to CBC News, said it follows “gender-based eligibility requirements.”

“Although our specific mission relates to the men’s game, we applaud all that female players have done to move the sport of soccer forward in North America,” the league said in the statement, declining an interview.

“Stephanie Labbé, in particular, has had tremendous success, and we wish her the best as she continues to pursue her career goals.”

Labbé, however, faces being benched all season. Because she and the team were so hopeful to have her play, she missed the deadline to join women’s teams.

So, a female athlete – Canada’s best Soccer player – is accepted onto FC Calagary to play. After committing to the Calgary team and the associated scheduling, the league says well, no you silly female, this is a MEN’S league and we don’t allow you nor your shameful vagina to be anywhere near our games or our precious league because of the RULES.

Labbé career is hamstrung for at least a season because of the commitments she made to the Calgary FC team. Well, you know, rules are rules. Sorry about your luck. End of story.

And that’s the fucking problem right there. There is no story after this story – a woman (adult human female) told to get bent (despite being the best in Canada)because this is a man’s game – woman’s grievances and sacrifice dismissed with a shrug. Woman citing the injustice of the situation and how drastically unfair the situation is has her arguments dissipate into the willowy-wispish grey vapours (of patriarchal society) never to be remarked on again.

This is the normal state of affairs. Welcome to the world of being female in society.

Men’s rules and men’s sports are automatically granted respect and more importantly, respect for the rules and guidelines that protect their game. It isn’t even a question.

Let’s compare and contrast though what happens when a male decides he want to be in a female sport.

Fallon Fox is a trans identified male and also a fighter in the UFC. Was he told that his participation in the female UFC was against the rules, so sorry about your luck? Too Bad?

Nope. Not even close. This isn’t someone going against the rules, but rather a brave, noble, and ‘progressive’ venture. A bold tale that is venerated by numerousmediaoutlets. This is the power males wield in society – because Fox calls himself a woman – it is accepted by society – the facts and reality of the situation be damned. Let’s look at example #239478322 +1 of what happens when male feelings take precedence over female safety and material reality. This quote from Tamikka Brents an actual female opponent of Fox’s who was TKO’d in the first round of their match –

“I’ve fought a lot of women and have never felt the strength that I felt in a fight as I did that night. I can’t answer whether it’s because she was born a man or not because I’m not a doctor. I can only say, I’ve never felt so overpowered ever in my life and I am an abnormally strong female in my own right,” she stated. “Her grip was different, I could usually move around in the clinch against other females but couldn’t move at all in Fox’s clinch…

“I still disagree with Fox fighting,” Brents stated. “Any other job or career I say have a go at it, but when it comes to a combat sport I think it just isn’t fair. At least not until we have more scientific proof that it is or isn’t fair. More research is needed for sure. Like I said, I am not a doctor, I can only say my opinion and I don’t believe that

“Brents reportedly suffered a concussion and a broken orbital bone during the two-minute beatdown, and required seven staples in her head.”

Yes, Takikka Brents is the example writ on a personal level when we allow (extra-spicy) male delusion to rewrite the (already male authored and male friendly) rules of how society works. Women’s safety, bodily integrity, and boundaries are all put at risk.

It’s not the full embrace of the misogynistic gender stereotypes, or the balefully embroidered tempest in a teapot that is ‘misgendering’, or even the entire fallacy that is ‘self-identication’. It’s the glaringly obvious fact that these frocked bell-ends consistently act and expect to be treated with the male privilege that they’ve been socialized with since birth.

Because if they understood, even a tiny-fraction of what it is like to be female and socialized as a female in society (implicitly understood as you should prioritize the feelings of others, there is something fundamentally unclean/shameful about your body, and you should sit down, shut up, and make yourself small), they wouldn’t act as they do. It’s your biggest tell, my dudes. Because if you were actually a woman, you’d be in the shutting up/swallowing your dreams phase of your artificially circumscribed life a long time ago and you and your very important opinions would reside where most of female anguish/frustration/rage currently lay – quietly impotent in the grey vaporous patriarchally approved ether.

TiM’s most certainly wouldn’t do this if they *got* what being a woman in society is about:

The weapons the trans identified males were using in the above photo, now part of a display at the San Francisco Public Library. Quoted material from Gender Trender).

“If you thought the age of scold’s bridles and dunking pools designed to torture and kill disobedient women were a thing of the past, you would be wrong. The San Francisco Public Library unveiled an exhibit this week featuring blood stained t-shirts encouraging patrons to “punch” feminists, along with several installations of deadly weapons painted pink: baseball bats covered in barbed wire, axes, among others, all designed by men to kill feminist women.”

The male creators of the exhibit also included a helpful manifesto, blaming lesbians, feminists and other uppity women for causing more deaths (by “harassing” men with their dastardly opinions!) than all the actual real murders committed by violent men.

Materials include riot shields inscribed with the slogan “Die Cis Scum”. Cis is a transgender community term, generally used as a slur, for non-transgender people.

From the exhibit manifesto:

“The Degenderettes are a humble and practical club, fighting for gender rights within human reach rather than with legislation and slogans. Their agit-prop artwork has come to permeate internet trans culture, national television, and headlines as far as Germany.” [From the San Francisco Public Library website here: https://sfpl.org/index.php?pg=1032262901 ]

Posted at the exhibition, MRA/incel complaints of “reverse sexism”: The fact that violence against feminists and lesbians is considered more likely to be perpetrated by males (as evidenced by all crime statistics worldwide throughout human history) is a conclusion that discriminates against men. Hmm. Never seen that one before. (sarcasm). Explicitly states that acknowledging male violence against women is “anti-transgender”.”

Weapons to hurt the females that disagree with you. Using violence as a ‘debate’ tactic. Blaming women for the problem of male violence. These ‘women’ sure do sound a lot like entitled males who, at the drop of hat (bonnet?, because clothes make the woman amiright??) are likely to resort to violence to enforce and protect their male privilege (in this case, dictating not only their reality but what yours needs to be as well, because ‘fuck you’ and your bigoted transphobic dedication to the world/facts/objective reality).

I’m waiting hand-maidens.

I pine to hear your spirited defence of male violence and male privilege be sure to include a piece on ‘inclusiveness’ and ‘intersectionality’ it will make your empower your arguments, trust me. Make the case the against against what is right here in the open – the vulgar expression of male dominance and socialization – cloaked in the somehow-palatable post-modern liberal new-think/new-speak. Explain how amazingly progressive transactivism is, and how it should be a part of feminism proper.

I shan’t hold my breath.

I will, however, untidily weave my way back to the introduction and the soccer experience that Stephanie Labbé had and some possible solutions to her problem. With the current gender-identity fad (fap?) that is going on, she could very well self-identify as a man and under our oh so long sighted Canadian Gender Legislation go to court and sue the crap out of the Soccer association for not respecting the gender of her choice, after-all its perfectly clear that strong feelings and thoughts alone can change you from one gender to another (dicey though, because strangely, a female can say that are male, but society isn’t obligated to respect her worldview, or her gender identity especially because society tends to discount the female view/opinion on everything). This solution (if it works) though is less than optimal because she would still be playing within the patriarchal superstructure of gender that at its very foundation lays the tenets for female oppression and male domination. Certainly, she could be advancing her individual cause, but as to other women who suffer under patriarchy would that be the solution for them as well?

Why are not females by the tens of thousands flocking to the trans banner and identify as trans-men to get all the sweet sweet benefits that come with being a man? It seems like a rather easy fix no?

Look at what is happening in the real world. Trans identified males are getting the headlines and are the leadership of the transactivist movement. Shouldn’t the trans identified women – now with male privilege, because transmen are men, – be leading the way? Currently though, what are trans identified females getting lauded for? Hmm…giving birth… of course, nothing says male privilege like having a baby.

No amount of ‘queering’ the system will change the fundamental rules that underlie the power dynamics of our society – sex based privilege and sex based oppression are some of the prime movers in society and no amount of language deformation and gender bending is going to change that. Playing within the toxic game of gender and gender roles only strengthens the justifications for keeping the status quo intact, when in fact, the problem is the very game itself and that is the problem that needs to be addressed.

Do away with the conception of gender and we’re suddenly one step closer to that free and equal society people keeping pining for.

If you want to take down somebody else’s argument, a certain familiarity with the nature of intellectual or philosophical (as opposed to playground) argument is required, so that you can construct your own counter-argument. In an intellectual argument, the person putting forth an argument sets out a number of premises (statements of facts), which, when you add them together, at best makes it impossible for their conclusion to be false (deductive argument), or at least makes it much more likely that their conclusion is true (inductive argument).

If you want to show that somebody’s argument is wrongity wrong, there are two, and only two, tactics allowed:

Show that at least one of the premises of the argument is untrue.

Show that even if the premises of the argument are true, the conclusion does not follow logically and/or inductively.

Tactic #1 requires good research skills, including the ability to find good sources, and the consideration to provide links and references so that others can evaluate those sources. Research does not include saying, “Well it’s never happened to me, and nobody whose opinion I consider valid has every described anything like this to me, therefore the person recounting their experience must be mistaken.”

Tactic #2 requires an understanding of formal logic and logical fallacies, as well as an understanding of inductive reasoning, for example, the scientific method and statistical inference. Be sure you know what a Straw Man argument is, both so you don’t make one, and so you don’t go calling somebody else’s argument a straw man incorrectly. Be familiar with Ad Hominem and Ad Hominem Tu Quoque fallacies, and again, refrain from using them, and don’t go accusing others of using them, unless you actually know what they are. Understand that correlation does not equal causation, but that scientific research can still draw meaningful conclusions even if not all of it can meet the gold standard of perfectly-designed, randomly-assigned, double-blinded, longitudinal, etc etc etc experiments.

I know, I know… that’s a lot to ask of somebody who just wants to assert that their knee-jerk, market-wisdom-based, common-sense, status-quo-supporting opinion is Truth. Especially since going through the work of checking facts and reading the research may prove you wrong, and then what do you do.

Let it be said up front that this cranky second waver bears no animus with regards to hamsters, electric vehicles, or dancing. Yet, once these elements are mixed into the toxic soup of everyone’s favourite capitalistic patriarchal construct – better known as ‘our society’ – hilarity is bound to ensue.

The advertisement in whole, before we begin.

This commercial is about selling cars. (Duh!) But who is the target audience? (if you thought hamsters, please leave now there are places better suited for your attentions). Let’s break this down and take a look at the characters.

Science Hamster #1 – Red bow-tie, suspenders.

Science Hamster#2 – Red bow-tie, red glasses and polka dot shirt.

Science Hamster#3 – Rasta hat, white shirt.

Because not all dudes are not into science! Bonus marks for catching the racial commentary this characterization is making.

Female Hamster in Ball – Brown and cute. Context wise we don’t know the ball hamster is female, but with time spent on establishing a connection one could assume.

Small, helpless, and cute. Thematic material anyone?

We’re 10 seconds into the commercial and what do we have here – 3 male represented characters creating, designing, and actively teching out with all sorts of futuristic displays and machinery. The female role, to smiled and waved at; the unsurprising passive receptacle for male attentions.

Audio note – “Baby I’m preying on you tonight. Hunt you down eat you alive,. Just like animals (x2). Ah yes because the predator/prey relationship is so sexy, and filled with equality too!

Well nothing new here under the sun so far, but as with most patriarchal adventures it gets worse the farther you go. Our intrepid female hamster gets herself into a jam by wheeling her ball into the experimental area and is zapped along with the vehicle by the transmogrifying beams of science.

Oh, silly female! Caution be thrown to the wind cause she doesn’t get Science!

Our first glimpse of her portents much of what is to come. Disembodied woman parts with feminine signifiers for the winz!

The body parts of women – sexy!

The requisite Male gaze.

To quote Keanu Reeves: Whoa…

And after a full body pan, we as viewers to get to experience the male gaze. Just some reinforcement in case you missed the objectification the first time around.

Audience gets to objectify her to, as women should be judged by the quality of their tuckus.

Now that we have primed the audience for sexual objectification, lets use it to sell the damn car!

Inviting female = inviting car?

Where is the female empowerment (do tell my Third Wave friends)?!? Oh wait the power of love. How charmingly original for a female character (do contrast this with the creator, the scientist, the engineer).

Empowerful stuff going on here.

Oh, dudes like their technology more than any single vampy female. Let’s get a shot of her looking flummoxed so we can reiterate the “female body selling car” angle again. We do remember the advertising truism – the sexual objectification of women sells.

Damn, they picked me over a car, what could they possibly after?

Our intrepid dudes roll to the nearest pet store to ‘pick up some chicks’. Consider the perceived power differential – the dudes looming over a cage of helpless females – and of course the anvilicious buying of women for happy fun sexy times.

Write your own snark about how empowering prostitution is…

So cue more science and boom! Let the female empowerment roar while striking sexy poses for dudes (science and/or otherwise)!

Huh, because vamping for dudes is approved female behaviour!

Recently bough females remarkable receptive to their buyers, with nuzzling and other overt signs of female powah affection.

Oh, we like you dudes and our role as eye-sex-candy and everything is awesome, see how much fun are having?

Cue the formation dancing with of course, our protagonists front and centre, we must never forget the centrality of the man and his power.

Never forget who is the subject and who is the object.

And thus endeth the analysis.

Going through this post made me think of all the conversations, mostly with men, about how we don’t need feminism anymore because we are an equal society now thus there is no use for feminism or feminist analysis. This was a cute commercial until you actually look at the underlying patriarchal messages that surprisingly happen to dovetail nicely how society perceives, and thus, how society treats women in 2014.

You could knock me over with a feather given how surprised I am about the level of misogyny present in our media.

This is cliche liberal debate 101. It’s like you guys follow some kind of handbook on how to be an Internet troll. Step 1, make asinine comment on random conservative blog without actually reading the article. Step 2, attack the prose, grammar, or spelling of the original poster. Step 3, immediately follow up with bad prose, grammar or spelling.

Anyhoo, everything you stated in your response is fully and thoroughly addressed in my main article. It’s obvious you did not actually READ the article… that or you are so far entrenched in trying to justify murdering your own child that no amount of science or common sense will sway you. The humanity of the unborn is so scientifically established that to believe otherwise is akin to being a flat earther. But when it comes to justifying having your offsprings spine ripped out their skull to suit YOUR selfish needs, I’m sure intellectual suicide isn’t that extreme.

Quite happy to let you leave this in moderation – This is just for you anyways :) (ed. and my readership)

It is fascinating really, when in the original article, you set the tone of what sort of response you are looking for.

G:”Petulant feminazis don’t realize that…”

Realize that you are not just talking to the rest of your ‘base’ high up on bullshit mountain, and if you start the slinging of mud, expect the same in return, my dear reality challenged friend.

G: “without actually reading the article.”

Why argue with stuff you pulled out of the right wing hate-o-sphere? Or did you want to cite the document where Planned Parenthood lobbied for children being able to express themselves sexually. I believe that you can’t, or won’t because the facts don’t seem particularly relevant to you.

G: “Step 2, attack the prose, grammar, or spelling of the original poster.”

Hmmm…let’s look at this exchange.

G: “And here I assumed everyone reading had an elementary school level understanding. Well, if your general education ever exceeds that of 6th grade biology, […]”

Arb:”Given the level of your prose, let me assure you, much less is necessary.”

Interesting it’s almost like you don’t see the savory hypocrisy in your statement. Of course, when you’re a denizen of bullshit mountain being right no-matter-what is the default setting. Just know that outside of BS mountain, we’re laughing at you. :)

G: “It’s obvious you did not actually READ the article…”

Again, poorly researched screeds are mostly boring (or did all those citations from the sources your claiming to quote disappear?). Concomitantly, your misogyny is nothing new under the sun.

G:”you are so far entrenched in trying to justify murdering your own child that no amount of science or common sense will sway you.”

LoL. You are calling the fetus a “child” and accusing me of being not following scientific facts? Not to mention the grand dramatic distortions, appeals to emotion that are so typical to anti-choice advocates when it comes to terminating a pregnancy.

G:”The humanity of the unborn is so scientifically established”

Wow, did you even read my argument? Huh, guilty of not doing what you accuse me of again. It’s very hard to take your sanctimony seriously when, after berating me for doing “x”, you go and do “x”.

Here is my argument. Try and read for comprehension next time.

“Women are autonomous human beings and have say as to what goes on in their bodies. It is absolutely their within their rights as human beings to decide to terminate their pregnancy, as it is their body. “

I never once call in question the humanity of the fetus. Assign it as much as humanity as you’d like. It’s rights should never supersede those of the women, as it is her body being used.

G:”But when it comes to justifying having your offsprings spine ripped out their skull to suit YOUR selfish needs,”

I know you’re just dying to show some fetus porn here, I can feel it. Maybe with the whingy caption “What about the Baaaaabeeeee?!?!?”.

Unlike you, I do trust women to make the best choices for planning their families. Also I arrived at that conclusion not having to consult any sky-daddies or related mythology to do so. Reality based argumentation is great, you should try it some time.

Funny how I’m almost sure you advocate for smaller government, except when its used to persecute women, then surprisingly, more government restrictions are a good thing.

Right-wingers and consistency – what is it??

G:”Your regurgitated and scientifically unfounded extremism”

You do know that “science” doesn’t have a position on abortion right? Science is concerned about facts, as opposed to the dramatic reading you’ve presented here.

G:”Anyway, go find some other blog to troll, I’m done feeding you”

Thank goodness. I’d hate for any of that reality based commentary to seep into your world view. Dangerous stuff.

*****

Sadly, this is almost always the way these conversations go when it comes to the attack on women and their reproductive rights.

Like this:

I consider myself to be a progressive of a sort. I’m all for saving the earth and all that, but then I observe the goings on at the Sustainable Campuses conference here at the UofA all I can think of is ‘What the hell is the point?’.

I mean really, all we have here is the proto-educated elite coming together to make some noises about sustainability, recycling and earth saving in general to each other confirming their ‘green ethos’ and noble intent; a perfidious waste of time, but I imagine it looks darn good on the CV/resume.

I can guarantee that this cohort, like the previous and the one before that, will have their high expectations and noble goals quashed by the reality of the situation facing them ahead in their life path.

Being the educated elite they will gravitate toward the upper middle class of society, reaping the benefits and privileges of that socioeconomic station. Only a very few will retain their ‘earth-friendly’ principles; most will happily defile the earth and others in the maintenance of their lifestyle thus propagating the cycle.

Lifestyle maintenance will be the end of us all.

Who wants to sacrifice comfort and security for the greater good? Is that ethos even mentioned anymore in this capitalistic money based society anymore? Why think of others when you can have a new big screen TV (insert techno gizmo/must have here)?

I’m certain that some good does come of such gatherings. Raising consciousness and what not. Incremental change is all that we can hope for, but unfortunately incremental change will not be enough. Nor will the small progressive changes happen soon enough or on a significant scale to change the sodden downward spiral of our crumbling civilization. When we finally flame out and the human population inevitably crashes only then will lessons be learned. Mmmm… society based on greed and exploitation, not a good thing. It worked so well as long as resources were available. Not so good once said resources were all exhausted. On our ruined shell of a planet, at least we can be proud of the fact we recycled our paper cups (at least some of the time).

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